5 of My Favorite English Games for ESL Students

I saved the best for last. My students requested this game more often than any other game we ever played. It's based on the old drinking game "Ring of Fire," modified for the classroom. Materials needed:A standard deck of playing cards, a whiteboard, 20-30 small slips of blank paper, and a bowl. The setup:Almost none! Place the bowl in the center of a table and spread the cards out, face down, in a circle around the bowl. The activity:Before you start the game, hand every student two small slips of paper. The students will take turns pulling a card. Here are the actions I assign to cards and the penalties involved: K: Ask anyone. Q: Ask a girl. J: Ask a boy. 10: Ask your teacher! 9: Bunny ears! 8: Words. 7: Pick again. 6: Touch your nose! 5: Answer one question. 4: Ask the person on your left. 3: Ask the person on your right. 2: Answer two questions. A: Free card. Note: This is just an example of a setup I use for intermediate university level classes.

BusyTeacher.orgIt’s only natural. After all, they are trying to talk in a language they are still working on learning. Still, silence can be deadly in the ESL classroom for your students and you. When you want to get your students to speak up, try one of these fun and simple games to get them talking in class. 1This is How We RollYou can use this simple game as a get to know you at the start of school or later as a get to know you better activity.26 Fresh ESL Conversation Starters to Get Students Talking!10 Oct I love teaching conversation in the ESL classroom. Part of it must be that because the students able to “converse” in English are better able to demonstrate their personalities, preferences, thoughts… and therefore, I get to know them better. Often it is simply hilarious to see the range of answers students feel free to share in a comfortable environment.

Travel and Sightseeing: Directions Through Town (1)Whether you are on a sightseeing trip through Europe or backpacking in Australia, finding your way around the city while on vacation can be difficult unless you know what to say. Understanding directions is a big part of this. Look at the expressions below and be sure to understand the meaning of the places on the map before you begin the listening activity: Listen by pressing the "Play Audio" button. Then, choose TRUE or FALSE for each sentence, which may be missing one or more words.

Classroom Games for Introductory / Beginning French ClassesEvery week in my first semester French class, we played games to review and reinforce what we did in the previous class. For other French teachers out there who are looking for more activities, these are what I actually used in my class this year. A lot of these I found on Pinterest, where I have a Teaching French at Uni board. Some of these classroom games require little to no prep, but having dice and maybe some playing pieces on hand is always a good idea. Hangman is the first game I start with to practice the alphabet, though I change it to Escape from Alcatraz (draw the stickman jumping into the water and escaping from the island) to make it somewhat less depressing. Bingo is an obvious choice for practicing numbers, and I have also used it with regular vocabulary.

5 Ways to Make Class Discussions More ExcitingClassroom discussions have been a staple of teaching forever, beginning with Socrates. I have taught using discussions, been a student in discussions, and observed other teachers' discussions thousands of times -- at least. Some have been boring, stifling or tedious enough to put me to sleep.

Kid Conversation Starters - All Pro Dad : All Pro DadSometimes being a dad is just tough. I recently had a real talk with my 8-year-old son about a kid who was trying to bully him. I don’t know if my advice was the best, but I believe it opened the door for deeper conversations in the future.Conversation Questions for the ESL/EFL ClassroomIf this is your first time here, then read the Teacher's Guide to Using These PagesIf you can think of a good question for any list, please send it to us. Home | Articles | Lessons | Techniques | Questions | Games | Jokes | Things for Teachers | Links | Activities for ESL Students Would you like to help? If you can think of a good question for any list, please send it to us.Street directions in English vocabulary exerciseIntroduction: Anybody who has travelled to another country or city has got lost. Sometimes maps don't help, so you have to ask somebody for directions. If you're in a country where they don't speak your language, this can be difficult. At other times, you will have to give directions to people visiting your country.

Speaking ActivitiesOn these pages you will find ideas for classsroom activities which involve speaking. (These tips are taken on this site · Find the murderer · Bingo mingle · Short projects to get them talking - Lists · Superlative questionsBusyTeacher.orgThe knowledge and experience they share are fascinating, and they get speaking practice to boot. But you can’t just throw students up front and expect them to succeed. There are important steps to get them ready for upfront speaking.How to Create a Jazz Chant by Carolyn GrahamLast November, Carolyn Graham did a workshop at the JALT National Conference in Shizuoka, Japan, on how to make a Jazz Chant. I taped her workshop, and with her permission am sharing the part of it where she demonstrates her technique. One of the many things I love about Carolyn is that she spends most of her time giving away her secrets.

How to Make Test Reviews Easy and Fun (Mostly) - Simplek12Today’s students have short attention spans, and can be hard to engage in the classroom. This free web tool allows you to make test reviews that engage students by using mobile devices to respond to quiz questions, much like a game. In this 3-Minute Classroom Problem Solver, SimpleK12’s Teacher Learning Community presenter Kim Munoz gives a tour of Kahoot, a tool you can use to create your own learning games. Make test reviews fun with Kahoot! Right at first glance, there’s a lot to love about Kahoot.